


Sunaina Tripathi's Kangann or "Maa ke paas dil hota hai"

by I_Shouldnt_Be_Here



Series: Aman's Family [1]
Category: Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan (2020)
Genre: Aman is a baby, Angst, Author believes that the family is as important to this ship as the ship themselves, Boys In Love, Boys Kissing, Don't worry peeps I got translations, Drama, Family Drama, Hurt/Comfort, I love her, M/M, Obstinate Shankar Tripathi, Romance, Sunaina is so OP, Title translates to Sunaina Tripathi's bangle or "Moms have a heart too..", Use of Hinglish dialogues, precious baby, very visual
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-10
Updated: 2020-04-10
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:47:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,234
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23576407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/I_Shouldnt_Be_Here/pseuds/I_Shouldnt_Be_Here
Summary: One look at the crazy Tripathi family and Kartik knows he wants to belong there, by marrying Aman. Sunaina takes a stand for her son's happiness. Meanwhile Kartik and Aman's relationship reaches new depths of understanding and new heights of love.
Relationships: Kartik Singh/Aman Tripathi
Series: Aman's Family [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1697092
Comments: 14
Kudos: 30





	1. Maa Ke Paas Dil Hota Hai

**Author's Note:**

> This work contains heavy usage of Hinglish dialogues (Hindi written in the Roman script). I don't like translations to break the flow of the story, so there's chapter 2 with all the dialogues translated for those of you beautiful people who don't speak Hindi.

“Kya hua, itni udaasi?” Kartik asks.

“Arre kuch soch raha tha yaar…” Aman trails off.

The mood was especially glum. Kartik and Aman had arrived in Allahabad for Aman’s sister, Goggle's wedding. Everybody made it _known_ in the Tripathi household that Aman was the next in line to don the _sehra_.

He had made excuses for bringing Kartik along and was tired of repeating them countless times.

“Friend hai” 

“Roommate hai” 

“Saath me kaam karte hai”

“Naye sheher me usne meri bahut help ki”

“Arre wo waisa hi dikhta hai, dilliwale ladke aise hi hote hai”

Though his relationship with him had mostly gone unquestioned. He could thank the middle class morality and heteronormativity ingrained deep within the elders of Tripathi khaandaan. Their relationship might as well be ‘completely imaginary' in the eyes of the uninitiated or a 'Western invention' in the eyes of the hypocritical 'Indian culture' proponent.

Goggle seemed to be a little different though. 

“Oye, kin khayaalon mei itna khoya hua hai?” Kartik puts a brake to his train of thought.

“Kuch nahi.”

“Ya phir merey khayaalon me…” Kartik shoots a flirtatious smile towards Aman.

“Tch, abhi mood nahi hai.”

Kartik wipes the flirty grin from his face and replaces it with a concerned expression. His eyes are alert to Aman’s every movement and his arms are ready to hug him at a moment’s notice.

Aman observes the change. Kartik's face gives away a lot, emotions flowing across it like a graceful stream of water while Aman usually held them back until the dam burst. He waits a while to make sure he’s listening, takes a deep breath and confides in him, like always.

“Shaayad maine kuch aisa dekh liya jo mujhe nahi dekhna chahiye tha.”

“Aisa kya hua…tum mujhe bataa sakte ho, agar tum comfortable ho toh.” Kartik always makes him feel at ease.

“Maine mummy ko dekha ki woh Kusum ko apne soney ka kangann de rahi thi.” Aman leaves out half of it, to see whether Kartik would get jealous, or maintain his understanding tone. Aman had these little ways of testing Kartik. It was a way to assure his insecure mind that his lover was _listening._

“Accha, Kusum ka naam lekar mera mood mat kharaab karo…” Kartik speaks in jest. Kusum and Kartik actually shared a good relationship. They were more like allies, instead of each other’s _sautan_. Aman doesn’t smile. Kartik grimaces a little. He might have made it worse.

“Hey, mazaak side me rakhte hai, mujhe lagta hai tumhare mann mei koi doosri baat hai.” 

“Mummy ne Kusum ko apna kangann diya kyu ki meri aur uski shaadi fix ho gayi hai. Mujhe to aisa hi laga.” Aman says, almost resigning himself to the situation. Kartik looks shocked. He thought that they would get together here, celebrate Goggle's wedding, then come out to the parents and go back to Delhi with Aman’s parents' _aashirvaad_ . Things looked so simple, _so linear_ then, but he realised that there were a lot of maleficent devices at play behind the façade of this smiling family.

And of course, all of those devices began with “Beta, tumhare bhaley ke liye hai.” Did nobody care enough to ask the 'beta' themselves?

Kartik gets lost in his own train of thought but then he schools his expression again. _This situation can be handled._

“Accha, yeh shaadi wala matter baad me dekhenge. Abhi bhi lag raha hai ki tum mujhse kuch chhupa rahe ho. This time, Kartik reads between the lines correctly. His Aman often left a lot unsaid and mostly left him to do the job of following through his words. Sometimes he found this annoying, but now he knew that what was to come out of Aman’s lips this time was from somewhere deep within. And it could hurt. Aman takes a deep breath and begins.

“Pata hai, bahut pehle mai jab nau-das saal ka hua karta tha, jab bhi mummy ka jewellery box dekhta, ek ajeeb sa darr aur khushi dono hoti thi.”

“Accha, go on…”

“Main saari jewellery ko dekhta aur kasam se wo sab kitna accha lagta tha. I would hold a piece in my hands, an earring or something, mummy taiyaar hoti aur wo jab nazrein udhar karti to ekdum aankhen lagaa kar uss earring ya necklace ko gaur se dekhta.”

“I can understand…”

“Phir mai wo wapas rakh deta aur mummy kehti, beta, main ye sab aadha Goggle ko aur aadha tumhari hone wali biwi ko doongi. Tumhari aur uski shaadi ke baad.

“Aur udhar hi mera chehra utar jaata. Mujhe kehne ko shabd nahi milte aur main bas neeche zameen par nazrein lagakar dekhta rehta tha.” 

“Wahi sab waapas yaad aa gaya…” Aman’s eyes glisten with tears and he steadies himself against the boundary wall of the terrace.

Kartik puts an arm around Aman’s shoulder. The matter about the wedding could be handled later. Now all Aman needed was his reassurance.

“Aisa kyu hota hai yaar? Western jagaho par pyaar ko chocolate, gulaabon aur teddy bear sey baandh dete hai aur yaha shaadi ko mummy ki jewellery se… Aisa kyu hota hai…? Aisa kyu..?” Aman replaces the earlier tremble with an impassioned polemic.

“Hey, I can understand, lekin mujhe bhi nahi pata aisa kyu hota hai…” Kartik is at a loss for words. He never had a mother who owned jewellery. But this is clearly important to Aman.

“ Aisa lagta hai ki ye saari material cheezein koi pyaar ki guarantee hai. Bilkul business deal waali feeling aati hai.” Aman punctuates this statement with a sarcastic smirk.

“Wo kangann jab mummy ne Kusum ko diya… Then I felt like the biggest disappointment ever. Mummy aur Papa dono ke liye.” 

Now Kartik seemed to understand what Aman was getting at. The emotions left Aman far less than lucid, but Kartik could always understand him. Always. 

Aman had a problem with the inherent _materialism_ of the concept of love. He knew that golden kanganns and red roses did not keep the promises of love.

And who better to understand it than Kartik, who grew up with less than enough money and less than enough love?

All that both of them needed was each other’s presence. Two pair of open ears, eyes and hearts were enough.

Kartik wrapped Aman in his arms and wiped his tears off. 

…

Meanwhile Sunaina Tripathi handed over the golden kangann to Kusum.

“Beta, ye sambhaal kar rakhna. Jab Aman se shaadi karogi toh baaki ka tumhe mil jayega. Tumhara streedhan. Aur humey mummy bolne ki practice kar lena.” The words slip out of Sunaina's mouth.

Later when she retired for bed, she gets this strange feeling that something is about to go wrong. 

“Kusum beta ko kangann de diya?” Shankar asks excitedly. 

“Apni shaadi se zyada Aman ki hone wali shaadi ke liye utsuk lag rahe hai aap.” She says acerbically. 

“Arre humara beta hai woh. Chalo abhi soh jao.” Shankar switches off the lights and sleeps.

Sunaina lies awake in bed. The thought of her own wedding always left a bitter taste in her mouth. She knew that Shankar loved another woman, Rani, but his parents and hers had gotten the both of them married.

_Same caste ka hai. Kuch problem nahi hoga. Her father said._

_Par meri padhai ka kya? Iss saal B.Sc. final year ka exam hai. Graduation tak toh padhai karne deejiye…_

_Arre padhai karke bhi kya kar logi? Waise bhi to ghar par hi rehna hai… Her father replied._

_Accha ladka hai, tumhe bahut pyaar karega. Her mother said._

_Didi, aapki shaadi me hum sab khub khushi sei naachenge. Her sister said._

The unhappiest person was Sunaina Tripathi in her own wedding. She had never experienced love for Shankar, but she experienced hatred for him for the first time when she discovered Rani's pictures in his drawers.

Now her thoughts wandered on to Aman. She always knew that he was a little different. He wasn’t too interested in sports, always sat in his room reading science books quietly, made friends with the boys that had limp wrists and looked like they were bullied the worst in class. She remembered one of his friends, who often came home with bruises on his arms and legs and held Aman tightly in his room. 

Aman and his friend Kartik were especially close. She often found them leaning close to each other and sharing secrets, smiles and loving glances, often in the same way that a husband and wife would. 

Then she had a sinking feeling that giving the kangann to Kusum had resigned Aman to the same fate as hers.

_Aise hi, bina soche samjhe kisi ne nahi kaha tha ki maa ko sab pata hota hai._

She didn’t understand what was the exact nature of the relationship between Aman and Kartik, but she _knew_ that she would be doing irreparable harm to her son’s happiness if she got him married to Kusum.

She wanted to see her son happy. This promise filled her with resolve unlike anything she had experienced in her thirty years of marriage. 

And she was determined enough to cross paths with Shankar Tripathi if required.

This was when Sunaina Tripathi took a stand for the first time in her life.

…

“Arre pagley, ye sab pehle kyu nahi bataya?” Kartik asks with a smile.

“Kabhi mauka hi nahi mila. Aur waise bhi bahut purani memories hai, suddenly yaad aa gayi.” 

With this, Kartik hugs him tighter. While his repressed memories contained visions of boys chasing him down, lovers rejecting him because he was too 'gay' or 'feminine' and his father hitting him with an iron rod, Aman’s memories contained jewels, sparkles, colours, laughter and sadness. The sadness was mainly because of Aman’s omnipresent fear that he would be a _disappointment_ for his family. Kartik knew he was so afraid because Aman’s parents loved him so damn much. 

Aman’s glistening eyes pour tears in thin, steady trickles. 

“Chal room me chalte hai, thoda PG ho jayega nahi toh.”

Still Aman cared about appearances. Screening his eyes over an iridescent glass jar of pickles filled with oil and reflecting the late afternoon sun, he followed Aman into his room.

After Aman locked the door, he wept. The weeping was interspersed with ugly sobs that almost choked his throat. Kartik held him tight, rubbed his shoulders and wiped his tears off.

“Shh, baby, let it out… it’s okay. Mai idhar hee hoon.”

The tears dried and were replaced with sniffling sounds that petered out.

“Kya karu yaar… itna dard nahi sehen hota hai.” Aman speaks into Kartik’s arms while staring at the space between his collarbones.

“It’s okay… I understand you.” Aman notices the bump in Kartik’s neck bobbing up and down while he speaks. He cannot look into his eyes. At least not yet.

Kartik reads his mind in this moment. He raises Aman’s chin and silently implores him to look into his eyes. 

Aman looks into his eyes and sees all of Kartik. The incredibly brave, yet sincere and earnest Kartik. His eyes call his name, and along with it his eyes _show_ pure understanding. 

This, might just be the feeling equal to love. And in that moment, Aman Tripathi takes a stand too, because now he _knows_ that his lover will always be by his side. 

“Theek hai, kal mummy sei baat karte hai. Hum dono ke relationship ke baare mei.” Aman says.

Kartik gives him the softest of kisses on his cheek, and that is enough to make Aman cry again.

“Oye, ye khushi ke aansoo hai.” Aman replies to Kartik’s worried face.

“Okay, if you say so.”

Both of their hearts clench tightly when Kartik wraps Aman in a loving kiss, which felt like _release_.

They made love that night, neither of the two able to hold their tears back.

…

Later, they sat up in bed and talked.

“Arre kahaa na ki tu disappointment nahi hai.” Kartik interjects.

“Pata nahi yaar, itna darr lag raha hai kal ke liye.”

“Mat darr, pata hai, jabse pehli baar teri family ko dekha to pata lag gaya ki isi parivaar ko apna bananaa hai…” Kartik trails off.

“Kaise?”

“Tujhse shaadi karke, pagal.”

Aman blushes a bright red. After overcoming that, they stay up late into the night, planning their wedding.

In the same room on the floor above, Sunaina Tripathi lay awake for different reasons.

…

But things took a different course in the heat of the moment. Aman kissed Kartik in the midst of Goggle’s wedding, much to the shame and trepidation of the Tripathi family.

And from that moment, history was created. 

In the Tripathi family, people either fought among each other with a vengeance or loved each other to the innermost, embarrassing depths.

For the first time in this household, two people fought. For love.

…


	2. Moms Have A Heart Too

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the chapter translated in English!

“Why the long face?” Kartik asks.

“Something's on my mind...” Aman trails off.

The mood was especially glum. Kartik and Aman had arrived in Allahabad for Aman’s sister, Goggle's wedding. Everybody made it _known_ in the Tripathi household that Aman was the next in line to don the _wedding suit._

He had made excuses for bringing Kartik along and was tired of repeating them countless times.

“He's a friend” 

“He's my roommate” 

“We work together”

“He helped me out a lot when I moved to Delhi”

“He looks like that only, all Delhi boys look like that”

Though his relationship with him had mostly gone unquestioned. He could thank the middle class morality and heteronormativity ingrained deep within the elders of Tripathi clan. Their relationship might as well be ‘completely imaginary' in the eyes of the uninitiated or a 'Western invention' in the eyes of the hypocritical 'Indian culture' proponent.

Goggle seemed to be a little different though. 

“Hey, penny for your thoughts?” Kartik puts a brake to his train of thought.

“It's nothing.”

“Or are you lost in thought about me…” Kartik shoots a flirtatious smile towards Aman.

“Tch, I'm not in the mood to flirt with you.”

Kartik wipes the flirty grin from his face and replaces it with a concerned expression. His eyes are alert to Aman’s every movement and his arms are ready to hug him at a moment’s notice.

Aman observes the change. Kartik's face gives away a lot, emotions flowing across it like a graceful stream of water while Aman usually held them back until the dam burst. He waits a while to make sure he’s listening, takes a deep breath and confides in him, like always.

“Maybe I saw something which wasn't meant for my eyes.”

“What happened…you can tell me, if you're comfortable.” Kartik always makes him feel at ease.

“I saw mom giving her gold bangles to Kusum.” Aman leaves out half of it, to see whether Kartik would get jealous, or maintain his understanding tone. Aman had these little ways of testing Kartik. It was a way to assure his insecure mind that his lover was _listening._

“Okay… don't make me feel bad by taking her name.” Kartik speaks in jest. Kusum and Kartik actually shared a good relationship. They were more like allies, instead of each other’s _sautan_. Aman doesn’t smile. Kartik grimaces a little. He might have made it worse.

_(Sautan literally means 'husband's second wife', but in a general sense, two people pining after the same person can be called each others' sautan.)_

“Jokes apart, I think something else is bothering you.” 

“Mom gave her gold bangles to Kusum, and his means I'm apparenty engaged to marry her. ” Aman says, almost resigning himself to the situation. Kartik looks shocked. He thought that they would get together here, celebrate Goggle's wedding, then come out to the parents and go back to Delhi with Aman’s parents' blessings. Things looked so simple, _so linear_ then, but he realised that there were a lot of maleficent devices at play behind the façade of this smiling family.

And of course, all of those devices began with “Child, it's for your own good.” Did nobody care enough to ask the 'child' themselves?

Kartik gets lost in his own train of thought but then he schools his expression again. _This situation can be handled._

“Alright, we'll look into the marriage situation later, but I still fel like you're hiding something." This time, Kartik reads between the lines correctly. His Aman often left a lot unsaid and mostly left him to do the job of following through his words. Sometimes he found this annoying, but now he knew that what was to come out of Aman’s lips this time was from somewhere deep within. And it could hurt. Aman takes a deep breath and begins.

“You know, when I was nine or ten, I used to feel a strange sort of happy-sad whenever I looked at my mom's jewellery box.”

“Okay, go on…”

“I used to look at the jewellery and I swear all of that looked so damn _beautiful_. I would hold a piece in my hands, an earring or something, mom would turn her eyes away from me while getting ready, and in that moment I would hold that piece of jewellery and stare at it intently.”

“I can understand…”

“Then I would put it back and mom would say, I'll give half of it to Goggle and the other half to your wife-to-be, just before both of you get married."

“And after that my face would hang in shame. I would stare at the floor for a long minute.” 

“All those memories came rushing...” Aman’s eyes glisten with tears and he steadies himself against the boundary wall of the terrace.

Kartik puts an arm around Aman’s shoulder. The matter about the wedding could be handled later. Now all Aman needed was his reassurance.

“Why does this happen? In the West, love is tied to chocolates, red roses and teddy bears and in here, marriage is tied to heirloom jewellery... Why?” Aman replaces the earlier tremble with an impassioned polemic.

“Hey, I can understand, but even I don't know why this happens…” Kartik is at a loss for words. He never had a mother who owned jewellery. But this is clearly important to Aman.

“ It feels as f those material things are a guarantee for love. Love gets reduced to a business deal.” Aman punctuates this statement with a sarcastic smirk.

“When mom gave those gold bangles to Kusum… Then I felt like the biggest disappointment ever. For both mom and dad.” 

Now Kartik seemed to understand what Aman was getting at. The emotions left Aman far less than lucid, but Kartik could always understand him. Always. 

Aman had a problem with the inherent _materialism_ of the concept of love. He knew that golden bangles and red roses did not keep the promises of love.

And who better to understand it than Kartik, who grew up with less than enough money and less than enough love?

All that both of them needed was each other’s presence. Two pair of open ears, eyes and hearts were enough.

Kartik wrapped Aman in his arms and wiped his tears off. 

…

Meanwhile Sunaina Tripathi handed over the golden bangles to Kusum.

“Child, keep this carefully. When you marry Aman, you will get the rest of your inhertance. And call me 'mom'.” The words slip out of Sunaina's mouth.

Later when she retired for bed, she gets this strange feeling that something is about to go wrong. 

“You gave those bangles to Kusum?” Shankar asks excitedly. 

“You're more excited for your son's wedding than you ever were at your own.” She says acerbically. 

“He's our son after all. Now sleep.” Shankar switches off the lights and sleeps.

Sunaina lies awake in bed. The thought of her own wedding always left a bitter taste in her mouth. She knew that Shankar loved another woman, Rani, but his parents and hers had gotten the both of them married.

_Both of you are from the same caste. You won't face any problems Her father said._

_But what about my studies? I have the final exam for my graduate course this year…_

_What will you even do if you study? After all you'll have to attend to the household only… Her father replied._

_He's a suitable boy, he'll love you a lot. Her mother said._

_Sister, all of us will dance happily on your wedding day. Her sister said._

The unhappiest person was Sunaina Tripathi in her own wedding. She had never experienced love for Shankar, but she experienced hatred for him for the first time when she discovered Rani's pictures in his drawers.

Now her thoughts wandered on to Aman. She always knew that he was a little different. He wasn’t too interested in sports, always sat in his room reading science books quietly, made friends with the boys that had limp wrists and looked like they were bullied the worst in class. She remembered one of his friends, who often came home with bruises on his arms and legs and held Aman tightly in his room. 

Aman and his friend Kartik were especially close. She often found them leaning close to each other and sharing secrets, smiles and loving glances, often in the same way that a husband and wife would. 

Then she had a sinking feeling that giving the bangles to Kusum had resigned Aman to the same fate as hers.

_Legend has it, that mothers know everything._

She didn’t understand what was the exact nature of the relationship between Aman and Kartik, but she _knew_ that she would be doing irreparable harm to her son’s happiness if she got him married to Kusum.

She wanted to see her son happy. This promise filled her with resolve unlike anything she had experienced in her thirty years of marriage. 

And she was determined enough to cross paths with Shankar Tripathi if required.

This was when Sunaina Tripathi took a stand for the first time in her life.

…

“OKay, why didn't you tell this to me before?” Kartik asks with a smile.

“I never got a chance, they are old memories anyway.” 

With this, Kartik hugs him tighter. While his repressed memories contained visions of boys chasing him down, lovers rejecting him because he was too 'gay' or 'feminine' and his father hitting him with an iron rod, Aman’s memories contained jewels, sparkles, colours, laughter and sadness. The sadness was mainly because of Aman’s omnipresent fear that he would be a _disappointment_ for his family. Kartik knew he was so afraid because Aman’s parents loved him so damn much. 

Aman’s glistening eyes pour tears in thin, steady trickles. 

“Let's go to my room, people will say things otherwise.”

Still Aman cared about appearances. Screening his eyes over an iridescent glass jar of pickles filled with oil and reflecting the late afternoon sun, he followed Aman into his room.

After Aman locked the door, he wept. The weeping was interspersed with ugly sobs that almost choked his throat. Kartik held him tight, rubbed his shoulders and wiped his tears off.

“Shh, baby, let it out… it’s okay. I'm right here.”

The tears dried and were replaced with sniffling sounds that petered out.

“What do I do… I can't bear so much pain.” Aman speaks into Kartik’s arms while staring at the space between his collarbones.

“It’s okay… I understand you.” Aman notices the bump in Kartik’s neck bobbing up and down while he speaks. He cannot look into his eyes. At least not yet.

Kartik reads his mind in this moment. He raises Aman’s chin and silently implores him to look into his eyes. 

Aman looks into his eyes and sees all of Kartik. The incredibly brave, yet sincere and earnest Kartik. His eyes call his name, and along with it his eyes _show_ pure understanding. 

This, might just be the feeling equal to love. And in that moment, Aman Tripathi takes a stand too, because now he _knows_ that his lover will always be by his side. 

“Alright then, let's talk about us tomorrow with mom.” Aman says.

Kartik gives him the softest of kisses on his cheek, and that is enough to make Aman cry again.

“Hey, these are tears of joy.” Aman replies to Kartik’s worried face.

“Okay, if you say so.”

Both of their hearts clench tightly when Kartik wraps Aman in a loving kiss, which felt like _release_.

They made love that night, neither of the two able to hold their tears back.

…

Later, they sat up in bed and talked.

“I told you that you're not a disappointment.” Kartik interjects.

“I don't know, I'm hella scared for tomorrow.”

“Don't be afraid, you know, when I saw your family for the first time, I knew that I belonged here…” Kartik trails off.

“How will you 'belong' here?”

“By marrying you, idiot.”

Aman blushes a bright red. After overcoming that, they stay up late into the night, planning their wedding.

In the same room on the floor above, Sunaina Tripathi lay awake for different reasons.

…

But things took a different course in the heat of the moment. Aman kissed Kartik in the midst of Goggle’s wedding, much to the shame and trepidation of the Tripathi family.

And from that moment, history was created. 

In the Tripathi family, people either fought among each other with a vengeance or loved each other to the innermost, embarrassing depths.

For the first time in this household, two people fought. For love.

…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it!  
> Have a good day/night  
> Kudos and comments make my day! :)

**Author's Note:**

> Well, I'm making this a series, with all the family members. Who do you think I should write next? Shankar or Goggle? Tell me in the comments!   
> Have a good morning/afternoon/evening/night and I hope you're happy and safe.  
> Stay tuned  
> -Adv


End file.
